Good Town Doughnuts

Good Town Doughnuts is surprisingly obscure for a roughly decade-old business, particularly given the nature of its signature offerings. Despite the fact that Orange County donut shops are both numerous and perennially popular, sellers of vegan and gluten-free donuts are considerably rarer here, and Japanese-inspired donuts (apart from Hawaiian mochi versions) are pretty hard to find around here, too. If any of those concepts appeals to you, the Good Town location at Costa Mesa’s anti-mall The LAB should certainly be on your radar.

Originally opened in 2016 as a sister business to a same-named Tokyo donut shop, Good Town Doughnuts started off making “brioche-style” donuts before pivoting substantially to vegan, “plant-based” recipes and gluten-free donuts. While not all of its donuts fit into one of those categories, the top two of three glass display shelves spotlight options with one or both characteristics; on our visit, plant-based cinnamon rolls and s’mores donuts trickled onto the third shelf, as well.

That bottom shelf of donuts includes “classic” butter-glazed, chocolate glazed, fruit/chocolate sprinkled, and mango-glazed donuts, plus stuffed Nutella powdered donuts, caramelized creme brulee donuts, and cake ring-style Oreo crunch and strawberry lemonade donuts. Posters on the windows and walls advertise toasts – mostly savory and made with homemade brioche bread – as well as a small collection of coffee, tea, lemonade, soda, and smoothie drinks.

Good Town’s pricing varies from affordable to a little steep – expect one drink and one donut to cost about $10 total, possibly more. A basic cup of coffee or donut is under $4, but most drinks are $5 or $6, plant-based donuts range from $4.50 to $6.50, and the gluten-free donuts are $5.50 each. If you’re using Oliboli Donuts as a yardstick, Good Town’s donuts aren’t that expensive, but they’re two or three times as expensive as Randy’s. Similarly, peanut butter and banana brioche toast is $9, while gluten-free, non-brioche veggie toast with avocado and a collection of common vegetables goes for $14. We found that a set box of six mini donuts ($12) provided better value than a single sakura cherry blossom plant-based filled donut ($6.50), the latter a clear nod to the shop’s Japanese heritage, and the former canvassing “everything else.”